An Unlikely Pair

About 10 years ago, I began hunting deer and hogs with a handgun. As much as I enjoyed that, small game wasn’t on my handgun hunting radar until more recently, when I invited on a Kentucky squirrel hunt. In camp, aside from the standard rimfire rifles, there were also a handful of Ruger Mark IV semi-auto pistols outfitted with scopes and suppressors.

I tested a Ruger Mark IV there and was impressed by the design. At 25 yards, the gun would produce half-inch groups from a fixed rest when topped with a scope. That’s plenty accurate for small game hunting, which was proven repeatedly on that hunt. I thought the Ruger was close to an ideal small game gun, but I wanted to make a few modifications, and so I set out to build my own version of the ultimate .22 hunting pistol—you can do it, too.

The Basics

I knew I wanted to start my squirrel pistol project with a Ruger Mark IV pistol. Bill Ruger designed the Standard version in 1949, and it was the first gun offered by his fledgling firearms company. I’ve had experience with the Mark II (which was the second-generation version of the Standard) and Mark III, but the Mark IV offered simple push-button takedown for cleaning and maintenance.

I chose the Target version, which comes with a stainless finish, heavy target barrel and threaded muzzle, which was critical because I was going to mount my Silencer Central Banish 22 suppressor to cut back on noise. The report of a 22 LR can damage your hearing, as well as scare small game. The barrel was already threaded ½ x 28, which is standard for most rimfire suppressors, so attaching it was a snap.

I like optics on my hunting handguns, but I didn’t need something as large as a scope. Instead, I used a red dot with a 2.5 MOA dot. The small dot doesn’t cover too much of the target, and because there’s no magnification, I won’t have trouble finding small game like squirrels. The dot also adjusts to ambient light conditions, which means I don’t have to adjust intensity depending on ambient light conditions.

Testing & Evaluation

With the gun put together it was time to evaluate accuracy. I wanted ammunition that was capable of exceptional accuracy, and for that I turned to CCI’s Green Tag 22 LR 40-grain LRN. It’s built for competition, and it offers consistent velocities and performance. And though it’s designed for targets, it’s also potent enough for shooting small game for the pot where head shots are the norm. A gray squirrel’s head is not a large target—about the size of shelled walnut—so I needed to make certain the combo was capable of staying within that at 25 yards.

For accuracy evaluations, I secured the gun in a rest. I don’t have that same luxury in the field, but I wanted to determine the Ruger’s capabilities with Green Tag. The results were outstanding. Every group was under a half-inch, and the best group was essentially a single ragged hole. That level of accuracy isn’t absolutely necessary in a small game hunting pistol, but it certainly offers peace of mind.

I also needed to determine if Green Tag would cycle the pistol effectively. Thankfully, there were no issues, and it managed to cycle perfectly for the entire evaluation. I finally had my squirrel hunting handgun set up.

More Than Small Game

As an aside, this pistol has turned out to be far more than just a hunting gun. It’s great for taking out small pests like rats around the barnyard, and it has become a favorite for family shooting sessions because it is so accurate and quiet. Small game hunting with a handgun isn’t for everyone, but it’s worth spending the time and money to piece together a small game/pest control pistol for yourself. You’ll likely find the gun is too much fun to relegate to a single season.